Connelly and husband Paul Bettany on the set of Shelter
“It was kind of strange, going to work in the morning with the director,” she says of her involvement with the film, which finds her playing a homeless woman. “But it really seemed to come quite naturally to him—phew—and it was an amazing experience to have had together.”
Not that Connelly received any special treatment.
“We’ve been married for 11 years, we have kids together, so I feel confident in our ability to navigate situations,” she says. “I had this fantasy that we’d talk about scenes all day. In reality, if the man sat down, there was a line of people wanting to talk to him. Since we moved so quickly, I think he felt his wife was the least of his worries.”
While talking about Shelter, Connelly’s noticeably excited. It’s something that happens any time we discuss Bettany or any of their three kids—Kai, 16; Stellan, 10; and Agnes, who’s 2.
Having movie-star parents doesn’t register with them. “I think they’re interested in the same way all kids are interested in what their parents do, but it doesn’t come up,” she says. “It affords them some fun experiences. They’ve seen hardly any of my movies, but they’ve been on almost every set.”
Given the opportunity, though, Connelly—who’s been the face of Balenciaga, Revlon and Shiseido—would rather nudge her family further off the beaten path.
“This past summer, while Paul was working, I took the kids on a road trip around the States,” she says. “We did mountain biking in the Mojave and we went hiking in Zion National Park and in Aspen. It all went well, considering I’m the only one who can drive.”
Apparently, there are few adventures Connelly wouldn’t embrace. During our talk she mentions plans to ski the Alps and, of course, that fateful trip to the volcano. The one thing the star of Noah doesn’t seem too keen to do is climb aboard a boat.
So how does she think she’d fare on an ark?
“I would not want to be on a cruise ship,” Connelly says carefully. “Some ferry crossings I’m not too thrilled about. But this is a very different circumstance. If it’s ‘get on the vessel or perish with the rest of humanity,’ I’d be happy to be invited aboard.”
The same logic applied to filming Noah. Connelly was thrilled to be involved, but could have done with a slightly drier experience: “I had a lot of scenes that were harrowing in their subject matter. Creatively I enjoyed them, but they were the most taxing. Then there were the scenes beneath huge water towers, which were never fun. But you can’t complain. That’s what you sign up for with a movie called Noah.”
Click through the gallery to see the Jennifer Connelly cover shoot.
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